Approved by the LEGO Ideas program last year and in stores next month, the LEGO Exo Suit adds a fresh crop of green recruits to the LEGO space program.

Peter Reid originally submitted his EXO Suit project to the then LEGO Cuusoo program back in March of 2012, and I've been eagerly waiting for it to become a reality ever since. It made the cut late last year, and now the set, officially redesigned, is ready to hit stores.

As seen in this photo from Brickset, several changes were made between the original concept (left) and the final product (right). In a comment on the LEGO Reddit thread, designer Mark Stafford explained why and how the Exo Suit morphed into the imposing machine it is today. Most interesting (as far as I'm concerned) is the green spaceman, who effectively launches a new brance of the LEGO space program.

Why the green classic spaceman? With limited new parts for Ideas sets I had to use a torso assembly (body, arms and hands) that was currently in production. This left three colours that would work for a classic spaceman. Black (available thanks to Darth Vader), Blue (thanks to Benny from the LEGO Movie - too obvious) or green (thanks to Ninja Turtles).

There was a second reason to go for green, I've met and talked to Jens Nygaard Knudsen, creator of the Mini-figure and all of the original classic space sets (from day one all the way to Spyrius). According to him the Red and White spacemen started as Cosmonauts and Astronauts. Later they became red pilots and white explorers, yellow were introduced as scientists, blue as security/soldiers, black as spies. Pete and I decided Mech Pilots should be a new colour. Green!

Along with LEGO fan Chris Salt, LEGO created this lovely little animated introduction to the Exo Suit.

What a lovely build, even if it does use barrels. Were I some sort of alien bitch, I'd surely get away from her if I saw this coming.